page_title: VTech Laser 200
section_title: Technical specification
hierarchical_section_title: VTech Laser 200 / Technical specification
caption_attribution_description: A VZ-200 computer, as sold by Dick Smith in Australia. This is a view from the front with the 16k RAM expansion pack plugged in.
context_page_description: The VTech Laser 200 was an early 8-bit home computer from 1983, also sold as the Salora Fellow, the Seltron 200 in Hungary and Italy, the Smart-Alec Jr. by Dynasty Computer Corporation in Dallas, Texas for the USA, the Texet TX8000A, and the Dick Smith VZ 200 and the VTech VZ 200.
  Video Technology manufactured calculators and LCD pad game toys at a rather claustrophobic multi-storey factory in Hong Kong. The VZ200 is a development of an earlier monochrome TRS-80 copy, and is similar to the EACA Color Genie and the Mattel Aquarius.
  The machine ran basic games on cassette such as "Hoppy", "Cosmic Rescue", "VZ Invaders", "Dawn Patrol" and Moon Patrol. The Laser 200/210 and VZ200 computers were discontinued in 1985 being replaced by the Laser 310 and VZ300 computers.
context_section_description: The VZ200 has three circuit boards, the video board and voltage regulator being separate to the main board.
  Externally, the VZ200 resembles a cross between the Commodore Vic 20 (whose name it closely resembles) and the Sinclair Spectrum.  The VZ200 features the one touch command keys of the Spectrum, but unlike the Sinclair machines, their use was not mandatory.
  Internally, the VZ200 is a workalike of the Tandy TRS-80 Model I.  The micro uses the same basic architecture, but TRS-80 programs cannot be loaded and only simple TRS-80 BASIC programs can be entered as it has a different memory map and some commands in BASIC are absent and can only be substituted by significant alterations in program algorithms, so it cannot be considered a true clone.
  The connections consist of a port for an unregulated DC power supply (the voltage regulator is on the PCB), a stereophonic earphone jack for a cassette recorder, an RF modulated video output, an edge connector which is a printer and disk drive port, an edge connector that is a joystick port, and a composite monitor output (NTSC 60 Hz output in north America, PAL 50 Hz output in the British Commonwealth and continental Europe).
  The VZ200 uses a copy of a Zilog Z80 processor (made under licence by NEC) running at 3.58 Mhz (3.54 Mhz on VZ300) and was initially sold with either 4 Kb (Europe) or 6 Kb (in USA), which was increased to 8 KB within weeks of its release.  A 16kB expansion unit was available, increasing RAM to 24kB. The VZ300 was initially sold with 18kB of RAM. 
  An 8 kB system consists of 6 kB of RAM, 16 kB of ROM, and 2 kB of video RAM.  The memory could be expanded to 24 kB (22 kB memory plus 2 kB video memory).  Like the TRS-80, both memory and i/o locations are mapped.
  Extended RAM was available above top RAM using the remote offset addressing method available on the Z80 (also known as bank switching).
  Banks of system memory can be reassigned using an offset above the top RAM.  Those banks are then no longer available, so program algorithms cannot be used in extended memory (as the program would "disappear" when extended memory is accessed), so it can only be used for program data.
  Video RAM can be increased to access the higher modes of the 6847 since there are video RAM chip select lines on the memory expansion.  Remote offset addressing must be used because the video processor cannot address system or internal expansion RAM, externally connected RAM must be used.
caption: VZ200 with additional RAM plugged in
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